When looking for work late last year, I recently got in touch with a former employer of mine, Bob Lamons, and we discussed building out a site for his new B2B marketing venture, Industribrand (as in “industry brand”). Now, I’d worked for Bob for nearly six years at his ad agency, Robert Lamons & Associates and when that operation closed its doors, I moved on to publishing for several years. Still, I jumped at the chance to both rebuild a working relationship with Bob as well as flex some more of my skills in web design. As I’m sure often happens in the design industry, I was once again working for a former employer, albeit in a slightly different capacity.
Back in 1998 or so, I’d built the RL&A site (ads2biz.com) entirely by hand, one page at a time. Eventually, I retooled the site using one of the early versions of Movable Type mostly out of a need to make adding and editing content a breeze. Similarly, the Industribrand site would need to be just as easy to use, while still being powerful and flexible. Enter WordPress.
It’s been nearly ten years(!) since I really dabbled in creating typefaces, but I’ve finally added some more to the type page, including Hospital, Sartori and TranScript.
Be sure to read over the full descriptions and licensing details for the fonts if you’d like to use them for a project. Enjoy!
Design firm Turner Duckworth announced today that its work on the packaging for the latest Metallica album “Death Magnetic” has been nominated for a Grammy award. Yes, a Grammy. For packaging. Turner Duckworth, known for its work with Coca-Cola and Motorola, made some unconventional design choices in the face of traditional music packaging, including the ambiguous/not-so-ambiguous cover image and a rather intrusive die-cut that pays no mind to photos or text in the liner notes.
I’m not sure what’s more surprising for me; the fact that Metallica is still bothering to put out music or that they turned to a design firm to build and market their “brand” or that there’s even a Grammy award for packaging design. Anyone recall who won last year or the year before that?
That’s right. If you have work to do and are super-concerned about getting it done, that’s the only practical piece of advice I can offer.
Lately, I’ve been catching up with sites that claim to offer tips and tricks to stay productive and make your workload a bit easier and less stressful. You know, the kind of stuff that falls into the Getting Things Done mantra (you do know GTD, don’t you?). Sites like Merlin Mann’s 43Folders provide some excellent insights and perspective on what it means to be a responsible, highly-productive worker. Designer types like myself can go to Fuel Your Creativity or Smashing Magazine and find out how to get better at this or easier ways to do that. The tech-savvy can hop over to LifeHacker or TechieBuzz and find all kinds of ways to get the most out of their computers and technology.
These sites offer some really great advice and can be a big help whenever you’re in a pinch, but it seems like everyone’s got tips on how to do stuff. Even when I try to skim my way through a lot of it, I’ve found myself more enthralled by reading about how to be productive than actually being productive.
And so that’s where my three magic words come into play. I still like to find ways to make my computer faster or some nifty Photoshop tutorials as much as the next guy, but as far as getting things done, I come from the school of “Don’t talk about it. Be about it.” So the next time you find yourself being not-so-productive, try not to look to others for ways to do your work. Just get to work. You pansy. You’re welcome.
Great roundup of some of the most-watched designers in the web design community. Zeldman, Cederholm, Moll, Budd, Meyer…I’ve been personally following some of these folks for years, as they often have great insights and opinion on where web design and principles. If you do any work that’s even remotely design-related, you should read up on what these guys (no ladies?) are doing. LINK
Over the weekend, I submitted a recent logo I worked on to The Design Cubicle for a collection of original logos sent in by the designers themselves. It’s pretty cool to see how the submissions shook out and get a peek at others’ work and props to Brian for including me. Check out the roundup here and read more about the project here.
OK, I admit it. I wasn’t exactly looking for an article in the latest issue of the German edition of Maxim when I spotted this cover, but that’s beside the point. What caught my eye, believe it or not, wasn’t new Bond girl Olga Kurylenko either, but rather how similar the design was to just about every cover that’s come from David Curcurito and gang over at Esquire for the last couple of years now.
A concept that originated with Esquire editor in chief David Granger, the “wall of text” treatment, featuring partially (or in some instances, almost entirely) obscured text on a stark background behind a single subject has ostensibly become a trademark for Esquire’s design aesthetic since first appearing back in September of 2006. In fact, it’s become so much of a touchstone in publication design that it’s just about played itself out, and yet, it just works. It works so well that another magazine in the genre is now taking the same approach to their own cover design.
A few months ago, I took on a logo project and was tasked with designing an identity for a new venture into “green” upscale housing development. The biggest selling point of these new communities was that they would be constructed in parts of the country that were not necessarily conducive to “eco-friendly” housing, due to climate and/or economical factors.
Since these projects revolved around energy-efficient construction using the latest technologies and building materials, and were to be marketed to young, savvy professional types, two fundamental qualities had to be conveyed: 1) the environmentally sound design and 2) a sense of youthful, almost-nurturing practicality.
In this recent interview with Ad Age, legendary art director and ad man George Lois made no bones about his dislike for Esquire’s recent “e-ink” cover, calling it “gimmicky” and “ridiculous”. He also goes on to comment on the state of other magazines like The New Yorker and Ad Age itself, while also suggesting that the younger folks need to get out more and appreciate the finer arts to find inspiration for great ideas.
Apple recently swung its big legal stick at the Victoria School of Business and Technology claiming that the logo infringes their rights and suggests an affiliation with their company and/or products. While that’s currently up for debate, on thing that is clear is that Apple must’ve been chomping at the bit to rid the world of one more piece of crap logo design. Seriously, if it were me, I’d be more than eager to change my logo. To my Canadian friends, if you’re gonna try to align yourself with Apple, might as well do it justice, eh?
